Table of Contents
ABOUT KILOPOWER
• The Kilopower project is a near-term technology effort to develop preliminary concepts and technologies that could be used for an affordable fission nuclear power system to enable
long-duration stays on planetary surfaces.
• The principal goal of the project is to sufficiently develop and test nuclear power system technologies by 2018 so fission power can be a viable option for NASA decision makers to
consider when making their informed selection of exploration surface systems.
POWER
•In the past, NASA has used radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) to power
spacecraft like Voyagers 1 and 2, the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Packages, and
the Curiosity rover.
•This device directly converts heat from decaying plutonium into electricity.
NOTES
•Most places in the solar system can’t be reached without nuclear energy.
•NASA uses plutonium-238 forged during the Cold War to power its most ambitious missions.
•NASA is running low on the material, but the Department of Energy is making more.
NOTES
•The US government stopped making Pu-238 in 1988. Russia sold some to NASA in the 1990s and 2000s, but it stopped selling around 2009 – most likely because its Cold War-era stockpile ran out.
URANIUM
• Because there is a shortage of plutonium suitable for use on spacecraft, the core of the reactor will be of solid, cast uranium-235 surrounded by a beryllium oxide
reflector.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
PLUTONIUM AND URANIUM?
• Plutonium (Pu) and Uranium (U) are just two completely different elements. The both happen to be radioactive and some of their isotopes are considered fissile material since
they are capable of sustaining a nuclear reaction.
• Plutonium is a transoceanic element with an atomic number of 94 and is not found in nature. It was first made in 1940. It is entirely man made.
NOTES
•Uranium is another metal that is slightly radioactive and was discovered in 1789.
•It is silvery white and corrodes to a black oxide in air. It is a naturally occurring element that is
usually used in nuclear reactors.
NOTES
•The Kilopower reactors will come in a variety of sizes able to produce from one to 10 kilowatts
of electrical power, continuously for 10 years or more.
•The fission reactor uses Uranium-235 to generate heat that is carried to the Stirling converters via passive sodium heat pipes.
HOW IT WILL WORK
• Primary coolant – liquid sodium (Kilopower)
• Almost all currently operating nuclear power plants are light water reactors using ordinary water under high pressure as coolant and neutron moderator.
• Heavy water reactors (CANDU) use deuterium oxide which has identical properties to ordinary water but much lower neutron capture, allowing more thorough moderation.
NOTES
• Each ISS solar array wing (often abbreviated “SAW”) consists of two retractable “blankets” of solar cells with a mast between them. Each wing uses nearly 33,000 solar cells and when fully extended is 35 meters (115 ft) in length and 12 meters (39 ft) wide.
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